Editor's note: This is the second in a series of stories on issues being promoted by each of the five attorney general candidates.

Montana law enforcement needs more manpower in the battle against methamphetamine, and addicts need more treatment, says John Parker, a Democratic candidate for attorney general.

Despite recent strides against the meth epidemic, Parker, 37, says the cheap, highly-addictive drug stubbornly remains a major threat to the safety of Montanans.

Parker, a deputy Cascade County attorney, says meth would be his top priority as attorney general and says he sees every day how the drug drives a long list of crimes.

"I've responded to meth labs with law enforcement," he says. "I've met with children who have been removed from their homes due to their parents' meth abuse. I've been working for years to get a hand on this tragedy."

Parker is one of three Democrats vying for his party's nomination in the race for state attorney general. The primary election is June 3.

Parker says his approach to combating meth would be twofold: First, he says sparse Eastern Montana needs more on-the-ground help to investigate drug crimes and capture criminals. He proposes assigning an additional Division of Criminal Investigations officer to the region.

That division, part of the Department of Justice headed by the attorney general, has about 35 full-time investigators and is Montana's primary state-wide criminal investigation agency. Roughly half of the DCI force already is assigned to drug investigations statewide, many of which target meth.

Second, Parker advocates establishing more drug-treatment courts for low-level drug offenders to help them stay clean. Specifically, Parker says he would help counties set up the special drug courts and offer training to prosecutors on how to best use them.

In drug court, felons charged with simple possession are given the option of treatment or punishment. If they choose treatment, the judge oversees the person's therapy and the felon is monitored with random drug tests.

Parker says a prosecutor's role in drug court is different than in traditional court. Prosecutors typically focus on proving a felon guilty; in drug court, the felon has admitted guilt and is working to stay clean.

Parker helped get Cascade County's drug court running three years ago. He says he has personally seen the courts reform one-time addicts, even some who served hard time in prison for drug use.

"You have to look at the treatment side," Parker says, and that stronger laws and tougher law enforcement are not enough.

Parker, who's also a Democratic leader in the state House of Representatives, has sponsored bills helping the courts in the past.

He attended two out-of-state trainings to learn how to work more effectively with drug courts.

"There's no reason we couldn't replicate those programs in-state," he says.

Both Parker and his wife, Carrie, have been board members and volunteers at an emergency children's home, which house kids removed from their homes. Many of those kids are removed from their homes because of meth use by their parents, he says.

While other drugs are problems in Montana, meth still occupies a special place, he says.

"No other drug plays such a role in driving community crime," he says.